Generations

What generation do you belong to? If you're reading this, chances are you belong either to the G.I. Generation, the Silent Generation or the Baby Boomers. Let's take a minute to stroll down Memory Lane and how well you identify with others of your generation!

G.I. Generation

Born 1901-1924
Type: Civic
Style: "Can Do Attitude", "Yankee Ingenuity"
Social Contribution: Emerged from the Great Depression to win total victory over tyranny in WWII.
Presidents JFK to Bush 41
Song: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"
Bombshell: Betty Gable
Movie: Casablanca
Sport: Boxing

The Silent Generation

Born 1925 - 1942
Type: Adaptive
Style: "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit"
Social Contribution: All of the great leaders of the civil rights movement came from this generation.
Presidents: None
Song: "Mack the Knife"
Bombshell: Marilyn Monroe
Movie: Ben-Hur
Sport: Baseball

The Baby Boomers

Born: 1943 - 1963
Type: Idealist
Style: Hippie to Yuppie; The "Me" generation
Social Contribution: Nearly toppled the government during Viet Nam and Watergate. Question everything.
Presidents: Bush (43) to Obama... and counting!
Song: "Born to Be Wild"
Bombshell: Farrah Fawcett
Movie: The Graduate
Sport: Football

So how do you fit in? Do you relate to the generalizations and icons of our generation? As you see, the beginning and ending of each generation is a bit fuzzy. There are overlaps and transitions. But each generation has a defining moment, a place in time that crystallizes their place in history. For some ti occurred in the generation's young adulthood, like the G.I.'s and Pearl Harbor. For others, like the Silents' it was later in their generation, and explanation point of their achievements: Neil Armstrong stepping onto the lunar surface and announcing "One small step for man..." For the Boomers, however, their defining moment occurred early in the generation, when most were still wearing Davy Crockett coonskin caps: JFK's assassination.

So whether you built jeeps on the home front or crawled up the sands of Normandy, built or lived in the first suburbs or marched on Washington or danced at Woodstock, we all have common threads-passing our experiences, our memories and our wisdom along to the generations to come. As John Lennon once said, "All you need is love."

By: Chip Zimmer Ph.D., Principal, The Zimmer Marketing Group
For more information contact Chip at czimmer@zimmermarketinggroup.com